| Rent Before You Buy |
Back in '99, I owned the original copy of VP, but sold it to Game Stop to purchase Suikoden II a mere three days after the purchase. The amateurish voice acting really grated on my nerves, as well as having a "time limit" to play the game, topped with a lack of true world exploration and character interactment.
Over a course of seven years, I heard the game was EXCELLENT from many gamers, so I thought I had really missed out on something special due to my quick judgment. The original game, retailing at an astounding 100+ dollars made the title even more alluring. Years later, I picked up Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, thinking I would never play the original and this would be the next best thing. As fate would have it, VP was ported to the Playstation Portable!
Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this game. Playing felt like a chore.
For those of you who sold your copy with the same mindset I had, or have always been curious about the title, but refuse to pay a ridiculous price for the original...you may want to rent this first before you buy.
Here are the Pros and Cons of this game:
Pros:
-A unique revision of Norse Mythology. You can really use this game as a tool to cause Norse Myth buffs to "spin on their eyebrows" and the liberties taken with the Pantheon (Heh,heh)
-20+ recruitable characters
-Clean CGI visuals
-No random battles
-No need to worry about "money farming" to purchase arms and items
(*More of a personal "pro", for those of you who have played the PS2 prequel before this...Brahms. Oh, LAWD, Brahms! <3*)
Cons:
-PAINFULLY repetitive
-Lackluster sound track
-Bad voice acting (with the exception of the new CGI cut scenes), poorly delivered lines.
-Timed.
-Little to no world exploration
-Not much of a story, really. Why were the Aesir and Vanir fighting one another? I was disappointed by the lack of appearance by Hel, Goddess of the Norse Underworld (..Hel).
-Virtually no character interaction. Coupled with the lackluster story, this feels very hollow and boring if you're accustomed to playing traditional RPGs, and this missing element really formed my opinion about the game. Lenneth is the only character that really shares her thoughts (which is usually the same "ice princess" kind of attitude).
I liked VP2: Silmeria in this respect, as a certain degree of camaraderie was felt between Alicia and the core Einherjar. Many "main" characters were flat, had virtually no dialog or purpose, and back stories and motives went unexplained, even if one has played the PS2 prequel, VP2: Silmeria. For example, how and when did Lezard come to become so sickly enamored with Lenneth? What was the depth of Brahms's and Silmeria's relationship? Lezard and Mystina? During a certain event in the game, you'll be asking yourself, "Why are Arngrim and Mystina even emotionally affected by this?"
-One DUD of an ending. (I received the "A Ending", i.e. the "best" ending)
-Voices CANNOT be muted
-Cutscenes involving einherjar recruitment can't be skipped, and can be quite lengthy.
-Items cannot be sufficiently organized. Searching your inventory for an Elixir can be a real annoyance if one has too many items
-Providing you meticulously preened your Seal Rating during certain chapters to receive the "A Ending", the 3 final bosses on Asgard Hill have an extreme advantage against you (As much as I'm ashamed to admit in this review, I wasn't able to defeat Bloodbane and reach the true final boss, and had to resort watching the ending via YouTube, despite cutting down every single boss and enemy I had encountered with relative ease--except the Mandragora in the Forest of the Elves. Oh, GOD, AVOID THE MANDRAGORA! RUN or use a Tome of Alchemy if you encounter them!)
All in all, rent this game before you buy. The original PSone version certainly isn't worth a price tag the size of friggin' Jotnar (a little Norse Mythos geekery for you guys). You might consider playing the prequel for the PS2, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria instead. That game too, has its rough spots, but can be enjoyable nonetheless.
For those of you who are Square-Enix fans, looking to play the good 'ol classics of Enix and Tri-Ace, I recommend Star Ocean 2 (which is being ported to the PSP with major improvements). It's a real blast!
NOTE: *If any other reviewer can shed light or correct me on some of the things I've said about story elements or characters, I would be greatly appreciative and edit my review accordingly.* |
2 Rating
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| A Better Deal than You Might Think |
Lenneth is more than a port of a seminal RPG for the PSOne. The aesthetic improvements in the current edition are substantial. New cut scenes make the basic game graphics seem almost primitive by comparison. What's more, the sound, soundtrack, voices and effects are leagues better than those in the original, and a preview of the prequel, Valkyrie Profile 2, is also included. If style matters to you as much as substance, then you'll like what you see and hear.
A few minor qualms: Unfortunately, Lenneth PSP doesn't incorporate the improvements in the American PSX edition (the most important of which is *visual confirmation of the weapon the protagonist is carrying*). Since Lenneth PSP was ported from the Japanese edition, the PSP version's improvements are built on an earlier revision of the game. Also: Basic gameplay graphics and mechanics have remained fundamentally unchanged, which is why some of the battles feel dated.
That said, the remapping of the controls is not refreshing, but neither is it obtrusive or limiting. And while the game is not new, it remains fresh and innovative if you don't find the old school mechanics daunting. Given the rarity and singular niche of the original game, this current version remains an excellent deal.
(Dramatic pause.) Why do I say Lenneth is an excellent deal when it seems to be OOP and various vultures on eBay and elsewhere are selling the PSP version for as much as $90? Because what they don't want you to know is this: The company that published Lenneth still sells it. You heard me correctly: the game is still in print! Why no second-party vendor has had it in stock for five months is a mystery (Amazon: take note!), but I received my own copy last week for the original price and in perfect condition.
If you love RPGs, get this one while you can. Take a break from Persona 3 and Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness. Rediscover this elegant post-feminist exploration of Nordic myth -- at turns majestic and morbid -- before it disappears. It isn't as rare as vultures want you to believe, but if you wait too long, it is likely to slip from your grasp. |
5 Rating
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